Rotary heat interchanger



Dec. 29, 1931. A. SINGRUN 1,839,057

ROTARY HEAT INTERCHANGER Filed Aug. 21, 1950 1 W W rm/w guys.

Patented Dec. 29, 1931v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIfiE ROTARY HEATINTERCHANGER Application filed August 21, 1930, Serial- No. 476,919, andin France August 29, 1928.

My invention relates to improvements in heat interchangers comprising arotary container turning in a liquid which is to receive heat from thecontents of said container or to give up heat thereto.

The purpose of my invention is to increase the surface through whichsaid calorific interchanges takes place without increasing the {externalvolume or the dimensions of the heat interchanger.

To that effect, one or several tubular elements are disposed inside therotary container, said elements being not in communication with saidcontainer but opening at both ends into the liquid surrounding saidcontainer, so that said liquid may flow through said tubes owing to therotary motion of said container.

The circulation of the external liquid through the tubular element orelements is preferably obtained through the centrifugal force resultingfrom the motion of the rotary container.

To that effect, it is for instance possible to'dispose the ends of thetubular element or elements at unequal distances from the axis ofrotation of the container, or to provide at one of the ends of saidtubular element or elements a constantly renewed quantity of externalliquid under pressure, said pressure being exerted by the centrifugalforce. Obviously, both means can be combined.

My invention also applies to rotary heat interchangers in which thecontents of am- 'tary container is to giveup heat to a gaseous fluidsurrounding said container or to receive heat therefrom.

In that case also, the centrifugal force may be used for circulatinthrough the tubular elements the gaseous uid that is to cool or to heatthe contents of the rotary container.

My invention may advantageouslybe applied to rotary refrigeratingapparatus of the well known type comprising a closed rotor. It is inconnection with said apparatus that my invention will be described withreference to the appended drawings, in which:

' Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of one of the rotary containers(condenser or vaporizer) of such a machine.

' Fig. 2 shows another invention.

Fig. 3 shows another embodiment in which the axis of rotationisvertical.

Figs. 4 and 5 are a cross section and a lon- 56 gitudinal sectionrespectively of still another embodiment of my invention.

Of course the elements that are not of interest in connection with thepresent invention have not been shown in the appended drawings.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the body 1 of the interchanger, whichis closedby a bulging end-piece 2, is provided with a coil 10 appliedagainst the inner wall of said 45 body. One of the ends 11 of said coilis connected with a revolving circular channel 3 provided between saidend-piece 2 and an annular diaphragm 3, made integral with saidend-piece. The other end 12 of said coil is more distant from the axisof rotation of body 1 than the first mentioned end 11. The other end 12opens, more or less transversally with respect to the axis of rotation8, into the vessel 5 containing the liquid 6 that is 76 to cool thecontents of body 1 or to be cooled thereby.

The dimensions of the annular diaphra 3 are such that the inner edge ofsaid diaphragm is substantially nearer the axis of 80 rotation 8 than isthe end 11 of coil 10.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the level of the liquid in vessel 5 in whichis located body 1 is considerably above the lowest point of the inneredge of diaphragm 3, so that said liq- 35 uid is fed directly intochannel 3.

However, if container 1 revolves at a high Working speed, thisarrangement could roduce, through an exaggerated stirring of the liquid,an overflow of said liquid from the vessel. In such cases it is possibleto avoid any such inconvenience by providing a diaphragm of such sizethat the lowest point of the inner edge thereof is located above thelevel of liquid 6 (Figs. 4 and 5).

In order to feed liquid into channel 3, one may use the method whichconsisw in receiving into a space adjacent cover 7 and limited by apartition 7 a certain quantity of liquid projected by the rotarycontainer 1 against embodiment of my the circumferential channel 3 isalways kept full of the external liquid 6, the motion of which togetherwith the revolving container may be facilitated by the provision of oneor several blades such as 4.

The centrifugal force exerts a certain pressure on the liquid containedin channel 3 so as to force said liquid into coil 10, while it producesa suction at the other end 12. It results therefrom that the liquid 6,constantly fed through channel 3, flows through coil 10 in a continuousmanner.

In other words, coil 10 is always submerged in the liquid contained inbody 1, and, as said coil is always full of the liquid 6 flowing throughit, the whole of its surface is used in the best conditions for thethermic interchanges that take place between these two liquids. Cover 7serves to prevent projections of liquid out of vessel 5.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, the coil is replaced by tubes 10,parallel to axis 8 or more or less inclined with respect to said axis.These tubes open, like the aforesaid coil, on the one hand at 11 intochannel 3, and on the other hand at 12 into the space surroundingbody 1. However these tubes may also pass through the end-piece oppositeendpiece 2, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. In this case both endsare at the same distance from the axis of rotation 8. But circulation ofliquid through these tubes is ensured owing to the presence of aconstantly renewed quantity of liquid in channel 3 on the left hand sideof tubes 10. This quantity of liquid is submitted to the pressureexerted thereon by the centrifugal force.

The body 1 of Figure 3 is adapted to rotate about a vertical axis. Inthis case, the coil or coils 10, or the equivalent, open, on the onehand into a rotary central chamber 3 provided with blades 4 andcommunicating directly with vessel 5, and, on the other hand, into saidvessel 5 itself, at the periphery of the rotary container. In this casealso, the

circulation of liquid is produced and maintained by the centrifugalforce.

The application of the improvement according to my invention torefrigerating machines having a closed rotor makes it possible toincrease their efiiciency for a given size of machine. It makes itpossible for the machine maker to substantially increase the output thatwas generally considered the limit for this type of machines.

When the heat interchanger is used With a gaseous fluid instead of aliquid for cooling or heating the contents of the rotary container, somespecial provisions have to be taken in order to take this change offluid into account. The specific mass of a gaseous fluid being much lessthan that of a liquid, it becomes necessary, in order to increase thecentrifugal force that is to circulate the gaseous fluid through thetubular elements, to increase the other factors of this force. For thispurpose, one may, for instance, increase the respective distances of theinlet and outlet orifices of the tubular elements to the axis ofrotation.

An arrangement that is particularly advantageous for this purposeconsists in fixing to one of the end-pieces of the rotary container achamber provided with blades converging from an intake located aroundthe shaft of the machine toward the inlet orifices of the tubularelements, so as to form a kind of centrifugal fan discharging the fluidin said elements.

It is obvious that my invention can be given other specific forms thanthose above described and shown in the appended drawings, and that itcan be applied not only to re rigerating machines having a closed rotorbut to all heat interchangers having a rotary container in which apressure or a depression can be produced, and which are adapted to thetreatment of any fluid material. The axis of revolution of the rotarycontainer could also, in some cases, have a position intermediatebetween the vertical and the horizontal.

Other changes in the arrangement, disposition or shape of the differentelements of my device could be made without departing from the spirit ofmy invention as comprehended within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A heat interchanger comprising an outer vessel adapted to contain afluid, a rotary container within said vessel, and a series of tubesdisposed within said container, said tubes opening at both ends into theouter vessel at unequal distances from the axis of rotation of therotary container, so that the fluid of the outer vessel is forcedthrough said tubes by the centrifugal force resulting from the rotationof the container.

2. A heat interchanger comprising an outer vessel adapted to contain afluid, a rotary container within said vessel, a circular channelintegral with said container and communicating with the outer vessel, atubular element in said container communicating at one end with thecircular channel and at the other end with the outer vessel, whereby theliquid in said channel is forced through said tubular element by thecentrifugal force resulting from the rotation of the container.

3. A heat interchanger comprising an outer vessel adapted to contain afluid, a rotary container within said vessel, a circular channelintegral with said container communicating with the outer vessel, and acoil disposed inside the container and adjacent the walls thereof andcommunicating at one end with the circular channel and at the other endwith the outer vessel, whereby the liquid in said channel is forcedthrough said coil by the centrifugal force resulting from the rotationof the container.

4:. A heat interchanger comprising an outer vessel adapted to containeda fluid, a rotary container within said vessel, a circular channelintegral with said container communicat-- ing with the outer vessel, aseries of longitudinal tubes disposed within the container and adjacentthe walls thereof, said tubes communicating at one end with the circularchannel and at the other end with the outer vessel, whereby the liquidin said channel is forced through said tubes by the centrifugal forceresulting from the rotation of the container.

5. A heat interchanger comprising an outer vessel adapted to contain afluid, a rotary container within said vessel, a circular channelintegral with said container and provided with an axial opening, part ofwhich is located below the level of the liquid in the outer vessel, anda tubular element in said container communicating at one end with thecircular channel and at the other end with the outer vessel, whereby thefluid in said channel is forced through-said tubular element by thecentrifugal force resulting from the rotation of the container.

6. A heat interchanger comprising an outer vessel adapted 'to contain afluid, a rotary container within said vessel, a circular channelintegral with said container and provided with an axial opening, part ofwhich is located below the level of the liquid in the outer vessel, anda coil disposed inside the container and adjacent the walls thereof,communicating at one end with the circular channel and at the other endwith the outer vessel whereby the fluid in said channel is forcedthrough said coil by the centrifugal force resulting from the rotationof the container.

7. A heat interchanger comprising an outer vessel adapted to contain afluid, a rotary container within said vessel, a circular channelintegral with said container and provided with an axial opening, art ofwhich is located below the level 0 the liquid in the outer vessel, and aseries of longitudinal tubes disposed inside the container and adjacentthe walls thereof, and communicatin at one end with the circular channeland other end with the outer vemel, whereby the central recesscommunicatin 1i uid in said channel is forced through said tu s by thecentrifugal force resulting from the rotation of the container.

8. A heat interchanger comprising an outer vessel adapted to contain aliquid, a rotary container within said vessel, a circular channelintegral with said container and provided with an axial opening locatedabove the level of the liquid in the outer vessel, 9. cover mounted onthe outer vessel, a partition disposed adjacent said cover so as toreceive the liquid projected by the rotary container, a pipe passingthrough the axial opening for connecting the space between the cover andsaid partition with the circular channel, and a tubular element in thecontainer communicating at one end with the circular channel and at theother end with the outer vessel, whereb the liquid in said channel isforced throng said tubular element by the centrifugal force resultingfrom the rotation of the container.

9. A heat interchanger comprising an outer vessel adapted to contain afluid, a rotary container within said vessel ada ted to turn about avertical axis and provided with a with said outer vessel, rotary bladesin sai recess integral with said container, a tubular element carried bythe rotary container and extending therethrough for connecting saidrecess to the part of the outer vessel' ad acent the periphery of therotary container, so that fluid is forced throu h said tubular elementby the centrifugal Force resulting from the rotation of the rotarycontainer.

In testimony whereof name to this specification.

ALBERT sINGRUN.

l have signed my at the

